Billy Nomates

Raised in a working class home in Melton Mowbray, Maries inherited her love of music from her father. An avid fan of American music and acerbic punk – from John Denver and James Taylor to The Stranglers and Stealer’s Wheel – Maries’ father was a music teacher at the local primary school. Setting up a makeshift studio in his sister’s kitchen and borrowing equipment from his brother-in-law, Maries began writing his first album under the name Billy Nomates. Her sole aim for the album was “total honesty”, and she was surprised to find a lifetime of frustration draining out of her as she attacked dead-end jobs (“Supermarket Sweep”, “Call In Sick”), hippy culture (“Hippy Elite”), sexism (“No”), and a whole range of social inequalities.