The Mohawk Lodge's Ryder Havdale got in touch with his inner Fleetwood Mac for his band's latest

Ryder Havdale writes all of the Mohawk Lodge's songs and even runs the band's label, but don't make the mistake of assuming that the new CD, Wildfires, is a solo project. Reached in London, Ontario, where he's on the road with the band Silver Springs, Havdale says he has no intention of going it alone.

"I love making music, and a huge part of that is because it's doing something with your friends," he says. "If it was all just me by myself in my room, it wouldn't be very exciting. And this new record, I'd have to look on the cover, but I think there are like, 15 or 16 people playing on it. And I love that, you know? Everybody who's playing on it adds something new, adds a different vibe. That's what's exciting to me about this record. It's a combination of a lot of different voices."

Some of those voices belong to Wolf Parade/Handsome Furs member Dan Boeckner, who provides backing vocals; Vancouver music-scene stalwart Jesse Gander, who plays all the keyboards; trumpeter JP Carter; and producer Darryl Neudorf (Neko Case, New Pornographers), who shared drumming duties with the Lodge's Rob Josephson. The large supporting cast gives Wildfires a richer sound than its predecessor, 2004's Rare Birds.

Recorded in a cabin, that disc had an appropriately rustic vibe, an electric-folk feel that fit Havdale's cracked-leather croon like a well-worn glove. If Rare Birds fell loosely into the folk-rock category, the new disc is closer to straight-ahead indie rock. Havdale has his own take on things, though.

"We were probably shooting for more of a classic-rock record than either of those," he says. "During the recording process, the boys would be like 'Well, what would the Traveling Wilburys have done?' or 'What would Fleetwood Mac do here?' I know these songs don't sound like those bands, but that was sort of the idea."

The Mohawk Lodge is still more likely to appeal to Hayden fans than to the average Rock 101 listener, but the incendiary guitar work that closes the seven-minute title track and the woozy trumpets that accent "Timber" speak of the breadth of Havdale's ambitions, as does the decision that led to the recording of Wildfires at Neudorf's Operation Northwoods studio in Toronto. In Ontario after a 10-day Mohawk Lodge tour, Havdale quit his day job for the chance to stay in T.O. and work with the producer.

Not that he had much invested in that particular job–or any other, for that matter. When he's not making his own music, Havdale runs White Whale Records, which has released CDs by artists such as Octoberman, Kids These Days, and Precious Fathers. "White Whale is my full-time gig, and I take odd jobs here and there to pay the rent or make some extra cash when it gets tight," Havdale says. "The label's finally starting to become self-sufficient. It's been three years in the making, and it started with the first Lodge record. We've got six releases coming up in the next six or eight months. So this is the first of the next batch of releases, and I'm really excited about it. Tons of opportunities have opened up with each release and now we're hoping all of those will come through on this one. I'm connecting the dots and hoping they connect well."

Wildfires came out last month but Havdale already has the next Mohawk Lodge recording planned, for release next spring. "And this one's not going to take two years," he insists, noting that it will be a live-off-the-floor thing. "I'm hoping to have it done in a month."

The Mohawk Lodge plays a Wildfires CD release party at the ANZA Club tonight (August 9).