Biography

Although Danish, Henrik Hytteballe chose haiku, the Japanese poetic form, as the artist name for his solo compositions; attracted to the beauty and simplicity in haiku poetry, the nature references in the traditional form, and how the meaning in the juxtapositions is sensed.

There are many references to the natural world in Haiku’s music, reflecting a range of emotions from loss, pain, and despair, to faith, love, and happiness. However, the intention is to create music that contains beauty, which is so much more than what we usually think.

“Experiences of beauty are not merely sensory experiences of delicious forms, they can open the world in a way that allows us to perceive dimensions we might otherwise overlook. Beauty can help define our understanding of ourselves and put the world into perspective. It causes us to consider whether we are living the way we truly want. Whether the source of inspiration is from personal experience or from nature, I want to express how exciting the world is and life can be, and to share this with other people.

I am also a painter and believe there are similarities in these arts. I work in layers and want to create a piece that will last for more than one view or one listening. I hope to create both music and paintings that reveal depth and communicate feelings from a life lived richly, with both sorrow and happiness.

When I compose music with lyrics, I am never satisfied with accompanying the vocal. I paint with my instruments and supply the words with soundscapes and layers that squeak, rattle, complain, lament, long and love.”

Hytteballe played in various rock bands during the 80’s, recording, and performing hundreds of concerts. In 2004 he started Haiku, which he describes as ambient and rock music melting together. The music is about finding inner resources after a big change in life, and was created in gratitude for his surviving a severe traffic accident.