Twitch’s Athena and Electronic Duo smle on the Rocket League Origins of Their New Song ‘Eternal’

Athena is a legend on Twitch, and the No. 1 female streamer of Rocket League on the entire platform—and now she's branching out in big way by adding singer-songwriter to her resume.

Today, Aug. 6, she released her debut track, "Eternal," a collaboration with the Grammy-nominated electronic duo smle, and we think it's a sign that Athena has a bright future in front of her in the music industry. It won't be long before fellow Rocket League fans fall in love with it, either, because the song will be available to stream during gameplay in Rocket League.

It's a pretty momentous occasion for Athena, and we got the chance to ask not just smle but also the streamer and artist herself all about the release of the song (and its epic new Mad Max-style music video) and what it means for her Rocket League roots to be in the very DNA of "Eternal."

Sweety High: What was the songwriting process behind "Eternal"? What was it like collaborating with smle on the track?

Athena: For a very long time, it has been a dream of mine to release a song, and the fact that I can do it with smle is absolutely unreal. I met them previously through Twitch while I was playing Rocket League and they just happened to tune in while I was talking about my dream of releasing a song. Every session that we had, regarding the writing of this song, was absolutely effortless. Collaborating and writing with smle was a blast and I hope that I can work with them again in the future!

smle: We made the initial idea with the help of our good friend oksami and knew pretty early on that it felt very inspired by Rocket League. We decided to double down on that feeling and show Athena. Working with her on it was really cool since we all live in different cities, the whole song pretty much came together through Discord and it never really felt like work. It felt like we'd get on to hang out and yet somehow by the end of our hang we progressed further on the song. This made the whole process feel effortless and very natural, which we loved.

 

Did you take inspiration from Rocket League in the creation of the song itself?

smle: Big time. Once the initial idea took shape, the main melody just screamed Rocket League at us, and at that point we started to structure the song to feel like an anthem that belonged in the game.

 

SH: What does the song mean to you? Was it inspired by a real experience?

Athena: Video games have always played a big part in my life, especially Rocket League. I always had a dream that I would be able to create a song that would be featured in the game I dearly loved. When this opportunity arose, I was thrilled and I tried to create something that I knew people would enjoy while playing the game that had changed my life. So I guess you could say that it was inspired by the Rocket League game.

 

SH: What kinds of sounds and production did you aim to bring to the song once the idea was established? How do you feel the instrumentation supports the theme of being "eternal"?

smle: We sought to bring classic yet innovative, big, anthemic types of sounds like the big saw chords, cut through melody sounds and energetic drums with tons of movement across the whole song to keep the ear hooked. The instrumentation supports the concept of being eternal by constantly modifying and growing upon the same set of chords and melodies as the song repeats sections. While the drops have similar writing musically, the arrangement is constantly developing but still feels like we have this everlasting motif throughout.

 

SH: What does being "eternal" mean to you?

Athena: Eternal is a promise of never giving up and continually chasing your dreams, even if it takes an eternity. The promise of pursuing what you love, unapologetically.

 

SH: What has it been like to add being a singer-songwriter to your repertoire? How do you think fans that know you as a gamer will react?

Athena: I have been really passionate about singing but never took that extra step to pursue it. Looking back now, I really wish I had done it sooner. I hope to surprise people with this release. I have always been teasing that maybe one day I was going to release the cover of a song, but now I'm excited to show them a different side of me that they're not accustomed to.

 

SH: What's your favorite lyric from the song?

Athena: "I feel alive again, I feel like it's a new chance."

 

SH: Why does "Eternal" feel like the perfect backdrop to Rocket League?

Athena: Well, in this case, it's heavily inspired by Rocket League. Without the game, I would not be where I am today and, for that, I will be forever grateful to the community and the Psyonix developer team.

 

SH: Is there anything you can tease about the upcoming music video?

Athena: Let's just say that people will be absolutely shocked by what we made!

 

SH: Anything else you'd like to add?

Athena: I want to say thank you to everyone who's supported me throughout this whole process. I wouldn't be here without the support of my family and community and I hope to make them proud.

 

Want to follow more awesome women on Twitch? Click HERE to read our interview with streamer thedragonfeeney.