MenoUmano, aka Paolo Congiu, is an artist with music in his blood. He cultivated it since childhood, supported by a family where music was a constant: his father played the Farfisa organ, his grandparents the guitar, and his uncles played flutes and cane wind instruments. Today, on the cusp of middle age, he releases his new album, "Realtà Alternativa," an alternative rock album that is also a tribute to the pop music of the late '80s and early 2000s. The album repurposes old analog tracks from self-produced cassettes, expertly blending them with electronic beats.
Collaborations abound: ElectroAce, who brings his dance influence, and Vega Bundu, who interprets the whole thing in a reggae vein with influences from Sardinian music. A journey of growth based on "bread and music," accompanied by his other great passion: electronic music. A passion that led him to experiment with artificial and digital sounds, which flowed into his first recording projects, including the 45 rpm single "Belle signore, poesie e fantasie" for Tekno Records in Sassari.
Their very first album was released in Tonietto and Francesco Salis's Santa Giusta studio: the EP "Amori e Falsità," which gave rise to the song presented at the Venice Golden Lion Festival – Nuovi Fermenti del Rock, where the project won the Critics' Award, as Paolo explains.
This was followed by the band Mistero 's great epic run between the late '80s and the '90s, with major successes and tours across Italy, from North to Central Italy, and of course also in Sardinia: Cagliari, Sassari, and many other places. During that period, the group released two albums produced by Beppe Crovella in the studios in Colombaro Po, Turin: Mistero and Sogni e Realtà, works that marked a fundamental phase in their artistic history.
In 2000, after closing the chapter with Mistero, he embarked on a solo career, both as a musician and as a soundtrack composer. "It took me from live performances to production studios: video games (including the famous Ziu Zizzu), commercials in collaboration with various Sardinian TV channels like Videolina and TeleNova, projects with municipalities and schools to promote the Sardinian language and environmental education. I also collaborated with Finson, a European video game distribution company. I created all the soundtracks myself, playing acoustic and digital instruments."
The new millennium saw collaborations with artists such as Giampiero Crobu of the group S'Undha for the song dedicated to the Sartiglia, and then "Brughero," written by Stefano Giorgio Ricci and sung by Emanuela Dessì. He also collaborated with Stefano Giorgio Ricci on the blues song "Ho Speso," which further enriched Paolo's artistic journey with new expressive nuances.
In 2024, he began a fruitful collaboration with Beppe Lanzetti, with whom he produced the single "Non mi arrendo" (I Don't Give Up), along with Mariangela Puddu. In 2026, he released the single "Gli occhi chiusi di una bambola" (The Closed Eyes of a Doll), with a music video featuring actress Assunta Fais and Federico Sanna's dance group Latin Style. His collaboration with SaGhenga (a group of undercover young people) opened up new musical horizons, ranging from experimental to progressive and rap.
The new album "Realtà Alternativa" contains 14 songs recorded over the past two years. It also marks a return to his hometown: Bonarcado, after long stays in Cagliari, Oristano, and Turin, where Paolo fulfilled one of his greatest dreams: "to bring together artists of all genres."
Collaborations are emerging in various fields, and a close-knit group of people working in music and film is emerging. Paolo is currently working on a web series that intertwines the stories of Bonarcado and Oristano through a timeline. The series is published on YouTube and TikTok and features actors from both cities. He collaborated as an actor in the short film S'Attitu by Rita Fais and Mauro Atzeni. In parallel, the team is shooting a second short film, currently in production, scheduled for release in early autumn.
All of Meno Umano's albums and singles are available on all digital stores and YouTube. There's also the official VEVO channel @MenoUmanoVEVO, where you can watch all the official music videos. In the coming months, he announces, "there will be some nice surprises coming."
