10 Questions with Frescia Belmar 

Since relocating from her native Chile to Los Angeles in 2022, Frescia Belmar has been making moves at a clip that mirrors her fingers on her fretboard. In her first appearance on the big screen, the artist known as Fresha portrayed Michael Jackson guitarist Jennifer Batten in Michael, but in real life, she spends her days mixing, woodshedding, and transcribing arrangements for her upcoming debut album—and bringing wild chops and deep musicality to gigs with icons like Herbie Hancock, Mike Stern, Janelle Monáe, Raye, and Karol G. with a signature Mayones bass that matches her bright and colorful persona. She took a break from her busy schedule to answer our 10 Questions.   

1. What music have you been listening to lately? 

I spend most of my listening hours in my home studio, and then I go for late-night drives and listen to the mixes. It’s a vibe: Cruising the streets of L.A., listening to my stuff under the streetlights. Then I come back and do more tweaking. Other than that, Brazilian music is always my No. 1 go-to; it’s the home I can always come back to. If I feel like going for a night-drive reset, or I just need to dance, be silly, or get out of a funk, Brazilian music is magical.


2. What’s something readers would be surprised that you listen to? 

I go from listening to Stravinsky to Lô Borges to Weather Report to Stevie Wonder to Steps Ahead to Brazilian pop to Wayne Shorter and orchestral music. Honestly, I love anything with a cool groove and cool harmony. But sometimes, I have to go back to lil’ Frescia and just listen to punk rock and scream very loud. I love music and feel deeply inspired by all these worlds. 

3. What’s one element of your playing that you’ve been working on lately? 

I like to constantly be improving in all areas, so besides keeping it fresh with technique, vocabulary, articulation, groove, and playing while singing, I like practicing the switch from singing mode to shredding mode. I also love transcribing little nuggets I hear on music that I love.

4. What was the first concert you ever attended?

Red Hot Chili Peppers. Watching and hearing Flea play live for the first time was out of this world and a magical experience. 

5. What’s the best concert you’ve ever attended?


Stanley Clarke and Björk. Both were life-changing for me — my favorite two concerts from my two favorite worlds. And later on, Herbie Hancock. What still trips me out is I got to play with Herbie before I got to hear him live with his band. It blew me away just to experience it both ways like that.

6. If you could sub for any bass player in any band, who would it be? 



Armand Sabal-Lecco from Stanley Clarke’s band. I love Armand. I’ve transcribed him a lot, especially the Alejandro Sanz era (funny enough, I got called to play with Sanz years later). If Armand ever needs a sub, I’d love to hop in and be on the road with Stanley Clarke. I feel like I’d learn so much from that gig, both musically and spiritually. On the funk side of things, I’d love to play with George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, Tower of Power, or Ghost-Note. I think those would be super fun gigs. On the pop side, I’d love to play (or even write with) Taylor Swift, Rosalía, or Björk. If it were a fusion gig, I’d love to play with Herbie Hancock again, Mike Stern, or Hiromi. Those would be so fun.

7. What was your first bass? 


A used, Samick Precision 4-string I found online for super cheap. My high school friend and I bought it half and half with our allowances. The deal was: We would keep the bass in school all week so we could both play it, and then we would trade custody on the weekends. But the first weekend without it was rough, so I started saving every penny. A few months later, I bought out the other half and got it to myself full-time.

8. What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given about playing bass? 



Besides being told to serve the song and lock in with the drummer, the best advice was from my counterpoint teacher. I was such a nerdy kid, and while I was studying jazz, I took private counterpoint lessons. The teacher told me that it was called counterpoint because melody is the point: We put two points against each other; they feed of each other and complement each other like a dance. Then he proceeded to show me examples on the piano. I was blown away, immediately thinking about everything I could do with bass. We studied Josquin des Prez, Orlando di Lasso, and of course, Johan Sebastian Bach, who was my favorite bassist for a while. From there, I understood I could do the same with the bass. I could fabricate counterpoint melodies underneath the main melody for comping. That was a game changer. It made me hear more melodic, singable bass lines, and it also became a way of studying improvising on jazz standards. I would go through the changes improvising in counterpoint style for fun, using it to find motives, melodies, and ideas.



9. What the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you during a performance? 


One time, I was slapping way too hard, and I broke a string, which popped fast and slapped me in the face [laughter]. I finished the show with only three strings. I’ve carried an extra pack of strings in my gig bag ever since.

10. What are four items that you absolutely need to have on the road with you? 



My new Mayones Custom Neon Splash Pink Bass, which I absolutely love. My laptop, interface, and headphones. My pedalboard. My fashion beauty suitcase with my wardrobe and makeup. I know that’s a bit more than four, but hey, I need things [laughter].

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