Victoria Ann "Tor" Maries[1] (born 2 May 1990) is an English musician and singer-songwriter who performs under the stage name Billy Nomates.
Life
Maries grew up in Leicester and was a member of a number of bands that failed to be noticed. Following a period of depression, a Sleaford Mods gig inspired Maries to return to making music and she moved to Bournemouth to write and compose.[2] Her stage name, Billy Nomates, was taken from an insult directed at her when she turned up at a gig on her own.[3]
Music
Maries' first album was recorded in Bristol with Portishead's Geoff Barrow.[2] She released this in 2020[4] and quickly gained attention from BBC Radio 6 Music.[2] She describes her music as no wave.[3] Critics make mention of post-punk and describe her delivery as sprechgesang.[2][3] She featured on "Mork n Mindy" by Sleaford Mods in 2021. She released the Emergency Telephone EP in October 2021, produced by herself on Barrow's Invada record label.[5]
Reception
BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Amy Lamé chose Billy Nomates's debut as her Album of the Year in 2020.[6]The Guardian's Laura Snapes picked out Billy Nomates as one to watch in 2020, describing her voice as "deadpan yet biting", offering "an acute lens on British class structure".[2]