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Drinking In The Sweet Waters Of Life by Simon Sweetman “I did - I’ll be honest with you, I did briefly contemplate suicide. I’d be lying if I said no. But the thought that kept me going, through the darkest periods - was my family”. So says Daniel Keighley, the man at the bottom of the infamous Sweetwaters festival of 1999 - the same man charged with making the event a fiscal disaster of such vast proportions it almost sunk any possibility of similar festivals in New Zealand and resulted in Keighley being convicted for fraud, and jailed. As it happens, I didn’t even ask him if he’d thought of contemplating suicide. I’ll be honest with you: that thought kept on reoccurring through the interview - it was written on the tip of my pad&rsq uo;s tongue. I was going to ask. But he just volunteered it. And that’s the sort of man he is - he’s keen to talk. No doubt talking about his past troubles is soul-cleansing. Cathartic. In fact, that’s why he wrote a book. I spoke to Daniel Keighley on the phone. We had intended to meet up in person when he was in Wellington being interviewed on the Good Morning TV show - but it was not to be. Instead, I spoke to him on the phone in New Plymouth. I found him warm and inviting, utterly charming and intelligent. Hang on? These are the traits of a con-man aren’t they? Still, whatever his crimes - and at the end of the day, Keighley was tried and convicted for his part at the hub of the downfall of Sweetwaters ’99 - I enjoyed talking to Daniel. I had read his book - and enjoyed it. I told him that too. And of course he was very gracious. I am not sure how true all of his book is - but it’s a good read - entertaining in places, heartbreaking in others. Frustratingly stupid at times even. And - overall - you do get the feeling that writing it was a cathartic experience for him. Keighley agrees and is confidant that “the book is everything I have to say”. It’s a slim volume (200 pages) but it says all it needs to - or at least all that can be said. As Keighley points out often throughout our interview, “this is my side. The side that never got told in the press”. And that’s true - but then, if you’re convicted of fraud, no matter how sorry you are why should you be allowed to tell your side? And more to the point, why would people believe you? “That’s very true”, Keighley politely intones. “But I think the most important part of the book for me, besides being any sort of release as you say, is that I’ve been given the opportunity - finally - for people to see two sides to it”. Fair enough - and Keighley admits that a lot of his side is essentially incompetence. As for negligence: “I didn’t take control earlier…” No shit Sherlock, one might say. But there is no point - Daniel Keighley has paid his debt (well, legally at any rate) and says that he has spent a lot of time contemplating this whole story. “Writing the book, once I got going, actually only took about eight weeks - it just flowed out - but a lot of time was spent thinking about starting. And of course it might seem obvious to say but I couldn’t have done it until I started…” I am sure I know what he means. At any rate he clarifies, “it just gushed out once I started. Although there was doubt. I did scrap the whole thing and start over. But I’m sure any writer goes through that. Once I decided I was just going to concentrate on the story of Sweetwaters I knew it was a story that I had to tell. I mean, it’s a story that I hadn’t heard”. I chuckle when he says this, though it crosses my mind that someone in his position shouldn’t sound so sure, so occasionally smug. Has this man that ruined the careers and livelihoods of so many tradesmen, musicians, caterers and road-crew - by not being able to pay them - truly sorry? Has he in fact completely paid his dues? “Well you’ll never know really will you?” he rhetorically suggests, “I mean I’ve thought about this a lot too - and I’d like to think so - I certainly know that my family has! They’ve stuck by me…” This is where we get to the suicide bit. Honestly, I was going to ask him - he had just been so nice the whole way through - a clever tactic of course. Keighley has probably charmed several journalists away from asking any hard questions. But, even smarter, he jumps in and offers to answer an un-asked question. I don’t doubt his sincerity at this point in our conversation. I’ve read the book - I know that having a hit put on you by a notorious gang (Keighley still says he lives in fear, at times anyway - and he chose not to name the gang in his book; a smart move of course) would shake you up and make you ask yourself the most difficult questions. Also, he had the guilt of the crumbling festival on his shoulders; he knew as the show was gearing up it was literally grinding down. So I don’t doubt him saying that he did think about ending it all for himself. I actually think: who wouldn’t? That he did not is testimony to Keighley’s family (he has three children and is still married!) And it is a testimony to the man himself - he has dragged himself away from the debt, the drama - and prison. Keighley has started a new life. And he is - in some sense - back in the game with event management. Again, I think that sociopaths and con-men always claw their way back to what they’re good at; they always convince people of their charms. But that’s me remembering the colours Keighley was painted by the stiff brush of our fear-mongering press. He was the bad guy. Someone needed to be blamed. And he was the guy. Of course, he has - with time - learned to shoulder that blame - he was responsible (or irresponsible - depending on whether your glass or pay-packet, as it were, is half-empty or half-full) And he says he’s learned more than anyone could possibly imagine and that this time is different. Keighley’s new role is helping to organise the first Parihaka Festival Of Peace in March, 2006. It’s an event that has grown in to a three-day festival featuring music and dance, culture and arts. “It’s on a much smaller scale”, Keighley justifies. “And I’m not in complete control of this - I’m just a hired hand here, so I have my role to perform. That’s why I know that this will run smoothly”. Famous last words? Who knows? His book is well worth a read. And though, if I’m being completely honest, it was hard to gauge his complete remorse at times, he was never less than a pleasure to chat to. Which, cynically, may suggest where his problems all began. But then, that’s me telling my side of the story - and not allowing Keighley the chance. But the release of Sweetwaters - The Untold Story may change that; and though he can’t change history, he can finally tell his story.
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