Born to David Lee Thomas Bass, an American army sergeant, and Vassilikki "Voula" Papadimitriou, Miss Greece (for the 1960 Miss World event), the family moved to Los Angeles when Athena was two years old. The most influential people in her life are her parents and brother. Before KrunK she was with the all girl band Hardly Dangerous and the punk group Butt Trumpet. Aside from her musical career Athena has also been a celebrity guest commentator on VH-1's Behind the Music and E! True Hollywood Story.

She is married to James Kottak, drummer for the hard rock band Scorpions and fellow bandmember of KrunK. They have three children; Tobi (a girl) born 1991, Miles born 1993 and Matthew 1997. In 2002 the couple baptized sons, Matthew James and Miles David at St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Church in Pasadena, California.[1] Athena was voted for Best Female Drummer and won at the "Rock City - Rockies".[2] In the 7th Annual L.A Music Awards, Athena was nominated for "BEST DRUMMER" (Males and Females) category. She was the first female ever nominated in the history of the L.A. Music Awards. Athena had a battle with breast cancer but since 1999 has been in remission.