After losing wife in helicopter crash, Tijuana Dogs’ Matt Mauser celebrates her life with music

At a time when the world is sheltering at home and isolating from one another, Matt Mauser felt the need for connection now more than ever. In January, his wife Christina Mauser, a 38-year-old girl’s youth basketball assistant coach, died in the helicopter crash in Calabasas that also took the lives of eight others including former NBA star Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.

Now, like the rest of Southern California, Mauser finds himself social distancing and taking on the role of a single parent and home school teacher as he’s hunkered down at his Huntington Beach residence with his three children: 12-year-old Penny Rose, 9-year-old Tom and 4-year-old Ivy.

Mauser is the guitarist and singer of Orange County party rock band Tijuana Dogs and he pays tribute to the spirit of the late crooner Frank Sinatra with the Matt Mauser & The Pete Jacobs Big Band: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra.

In his darkest moment, Mauser said he decided to stop being depressed, picked up his guitar and he wrote the song “Lost” for his late wife. He uploaded the song to YouTube and shared it via the Tijuana Dogs’ official Facebook page on March 24. It was received so well, Mauser said he felt confident enough, with the support of Tijuana Dogs guitarist and longtime friend Dave Murdy at his side, to do his very first Facebook Live performance on April 1.

“When the whole lockdown thing happened, I was starting to go a little nuts,” Mauser said during a recent phone interview. “Dave and I decided this might be a good idea and we could come back by doing a Facebook Live instead of being in front of a whole crowd to entertain people.”

Mauser played piano while Murdy strummed the guitar and they rocketed through a few covers by artists like Cat Stevens, Elton John, Johnny Cash and, of course, Sinatra. The streaming concert quickly became a family affair as Mauser’s son, Tom, joined him for Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You” as he simultaneously completed a Rubik’s cube.

His daughter, Penny Rose, also joined in on the fun and sang a song the pair wrote together called “Green Bike,” which was also uploaded to YouTube with an accompanying music video on April 7.

“We were supposed to release that song the day my wife died,” Mauser said. “Penny was going to perform it with me at the Brea Improv that night and Christina had a game, so she was going to fly up and fly back. The only reason Penny wasn’t with her on that helicopter was because we were going to be doing this song. She was supposed to be on that helicopter with my wife. I would have lost them both.”

Mauser said they’re not releasing songs or streaming to make any kind of money, but rather just to connect with others. He said he was excited to see that over 44,000 people tuned into the Facebook Live home concert and he loved reading all of the comments as they popped up on the screen.

“That’s what I miss about performing live,” he said. “We’re putting stuff out now and hopefully the people will support us when we come back. I don’t know when that will be. I know I’ll return to do the Sinatra thing, but I don’t know about Tijuana Dogs. That’s a different style of performance and I just don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

Mauser said his wife was instrumental in the success of Tijuana Dogs, which formed over 20 years ago. The couple actually met at a local show.

“She fell in love with me doing this,” he said. “Doing this right now, it’s a distraction for me. You can’t hug your family and your friends right now and that’s hard. I’m here alone with my kids and thank God for them. I know I’d be more okay going through all of this if my wife were here … but man, it’s hard.”

As a former teacher, Mauser said he’s teaching the kids at home what he knows best: History, which he studied in college; Spanish, which he taught at private school; music, which is his longtime love; and swimming, which he used to coach.

“We do the history, Spanish and music, then we swim when we can and the rest they’ll just have to figure out on their own,” he said with a laugh.

They’re passing the time by watching movies and listening to music. The kids conned Mauser into watching “Guys and Dolls,” which he said is “just a terrible movie.” But he did enjoy a Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks binge with “Frozen,” “Kung Fu Panda” and “Ratatouille.” He put on albums by Donald Fagen and Steely Dan and the kids wanted to listen to Shawn Mendes, Post Malone, while his youngest insists on listening to the “Frozen” soundtrack on repeat.

“Music is a big part of our lives here,” he said. “My kids can sing. They have good ears and they stay on pitch so I’m pretty proud of that. I do make them take piano lessons. I never had lessons, I finally taught myself to play piano when I was 35.”

For now, Mauser said he’s kicking around the idea of doing future Facebook Live performances since the experience was so cathartic. When the bars and clubs reopen again, Mauser is looking to put together a show he wants to call Saved By Sinatra.

“It wouldn’t just be Sinatra music, but it would be more about how music has gotten me through this really challenging time,” he said.

“I Thought About You” is a Sinatra song in particular that has crept into his mind with regularity. It’s on Sinatra’s 1956 album “Songs for Swingin’ Lovers” and was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer in 1939.

“It just reminds me of the last family trip we took to New York back in August,” he said. “We took the kids to Penn Station and we rode the train up to Boston. It was beautiful. The kids were so excited. We were a very happy family and my wife was just a beautiful human being. She was beautiful in so many ways: kind, smart and humble. Memories like that one hurt, but I love that song and it just reminds me of that trip.”

About The Author

Brent A. Duque

From humble beginnings and son of hard-working immigrant parents, Brent Duque was raised in La Puente, California. After graduating from West Covina High School and Mt. San Antonio College, Mr. Duque went on to graduate from Cal State University Fullerton with a Bachelors degree in Political Science. After obtaining his undergraduate degree, Mr. Duque did his graduate studies in Education and Public Administration at California Polytechnic University Pomona. After working for other firms, Mr. Duque knew that if he opened his own firm, he could provide more aggressive representation, better communication with clients, and secure larger settlements and verdicts for his clients. In 2006, he started his firm and has had a remarkable and successful career that he attributes to his firm’s aggressive and relentless pursuit of justice for his clients. As owner and managing attorney of the firm, Mr. Duque has fought for and secured millions of dollars for his clients.

View all posts by Brent A. Duque →