Ana da Silva is a founding member of the all-female The Raincoats, formed at Hornsey Art College in 1977. Emerging from the punk rock scene, they aligned themselves with the post-punk ethos of anything goes, bringing in unusual sounds for punk from violin to toy and second-hand instruments and bringing in free jazz and world musics. It was the patronage of Kurt Cobain and Sonic Youth that sparked a second wave of interest in the band, and specifically saw them influence a whole new generation of female-led bands in the US in the nineties.
As a solo artist, Ana released a solo album The Lighthouse on Chicks on Speed Records in 2005, and she is currently recording a new solo album.