Anya Phillips was involved in the fashion, sound, film, and music scenes of the No Wave and underground 1970s. She was the manager of musician James Chance as well as a cofounder (along with Steve Maas and Diego Cortez) of the legendary Mudd Club. She was a friend and fashion influence of Debbie Harry and sporadically appeared on background vocals for James Chance and other musicians while acting as the emcee for the acts.