moon patrol has its origins in keith's obsession with rare orchids. it was while marching through algeria to oran that he heard rumors of the fabled black orchid of jabal ash sha'nabi as swada. reaching oran, he hired a car and set off for the fabled mountain. he had gotten as far as bordj al kaffah when a terrible sandstorm whipped him off course and into the deep desert. he ran out of gas, then water, then will and was all but dead when a group of nomadic yak herders found him. reviving him with cups of yak urine and keeping him cool by dragging him along the slip'n'slide they carried, keith was soon back on his feet. explaining to the nomads his quest, he was crestfallen to hear that rumors were, in fact, false and the only thing to be found in the mysterious caverns of jabal ash sha'nabi as swada was an old guitar. needing to see for himself he set off again for the mountain. upon reaching the caves he discovered the forgotten path and quickly found himself before a 1965 mustang guitar and fender amphead. gazing long and hard into the scuffed surface of the instrument he realized orchids were a pretty stupid thing to be obsessed over and resolved right then and there to become a rock star. however upon returning home, guitar in hand, he joined moon patrol and that put paid to that idea.