Billy Nomates

Victoria Ann "Tor" Maries (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. Her stage name, Billy Nomates, was taken from an insult directed at her when she turned up at a gig on her own. In 2024, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Music

Maries' first album was recorded in Bristol with Portishead's Geoff Barrow. and quickly gained attention from BBC Radio 6 Music.

Maries's second album, Cacti, was released in 2023. Later that year, after playing a set at Glastonbury that used a backing track instead of live music ), Maries received what she called an "insane" amount of online abuse and requested BBC Radio 6 Music to remove footage of her performance from their web pages, a request the BBC complied with. Fellow musicians such as Billy Bragg, the Anchoress, and Lonelady expressed their support for Maries and criticised the misogynistic character of the abuse. Maries initially vowed never to perform live again after the incident, and even considered leaving music altogether, but eventually recovered on both fronts. The Guardians Laura Snapes picked out Maries as one to watch in 2020, describing her voice as "deadpan yet biting", offering "an acute lens on British class structure".

Discography Studio albums Billy Nomates (2020) Cacti (2023) Metalhorse (2025)

EPs Emergency Telephone (2021)

Music videos