Brandon Goldman thinks rock is a dying genre. The sophomore popular music performance major wanted his favorite type of tune to rise from the dead.

“There’s not a lot of people making especially hard rock anymore,” Goldman said. “Since there was no one making it, I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll make it.’”

That decision sparked the creation of his solo rock project, Skusic — its name a portmanteau of “skating” and “music.” For Skusic, Goldman performs shows with a band, but he writes and produces all of the music he records alone in his room.

“I never get the product exactly how I want it, unless it’s me doing the whole thing,” Goldman said. “When it comes to my songs, I’m a perfectionist, so it takes me forever. So it really helps to just be in my own room and take however much time I want.”

When it comes to writing the lyrics behind the perfectionist production, Goldman opts to center songs around his friends’ lives rather than his own.

“They’re all about other people that I know, and about how their life works, or how they’re feeling,” Goldman said. “I’m always the person that people come and talk to, because I like to listen to people’s stories, and then I write a song.”

Goldman also works tirelessly on Skusic’s live performances. On Oct. 25, Goldman unveiled an ambitious set at “Amped Up,” a house show near campus he headlined. The bespoke performance was complete with a custom drum setup and a video introduction, a setup more standard for a concert tour than its backyard setting. The Skusic set began at 9:30 p.m., but Goldman arrived at 10 a.m. — almost 12 hours earlier.

“I made a post on my story the day before and said it would be the best-sounding house show you’ve ever heard — so I had to make sure,” Goldman said.

Skusic brings both production value and a healthy dash of personality to the stage, from the band donning matching white beards fitting for the song “Wiseman” to Goldman’s frenetic, cuss-laden monologues between songs. It’s a distinct stage presence that Goldman, a drum emphasis within his popular music major, attributed to his original instrument of choice.

“I play the drums very hard, and I’m very visual when I play the drums … It really translates into how I act on stage,” Goldman said. “If no one showed up to the concert, I would probably act the same exact way. I think it’s just my natural energy.”

That intensity didn’t come naturally to every Skusic band member. Max Garson, a sophomore majoring in jazz studies and Goldman’s bandmate, had to adjust when it was time to rock out on the drums.

“The first few rehearsals I played with Brandon, my hands were bleeding and I was tearing them up,” Garson said. “Now, my body’s adjusted so it’s not as bad, but I’m definitely hitting [the drums] a lot harder.”

Hand injuries aside, Goldman insists on building a band made up of only his friends. He says he’d have it no other way, and the feeling is mutual.

“I would run through a wall for that fool,” said Christian Oropeza-Pineda, a sophomore majoring in popular music performance and a frequent bandmate of Goldman’s. “He’s got his shit together, and we’re having a lot of fun.”

Goldman and his band also mix in a cultural touch to their performances. At one point in the “Amped” set, his band morphed from his song “Everything They Say” into “Hava Nagila,” a Jewish folk song.

“It’s truly because I’m just a Jew, and I fuck with it, and ‘Hava Nagila’ is awesome,” Goldman said. “Every show, I wear the Star of David pretty visibly … I really like to incorporate that [identity] kind of sneakily into the set.”

Skusic released three songs onto streaming platforms already, but Goldman said he is now focused on putting the finishing touches on his debut album, set to be released this spring. Skusic live performances already play a lot of the forthcoming album’s unreleased tracks, and between that and other songs Goldman has written, he has over 20 original Skusic tracks to pick from for a given show.

“A lot of [student musicians] maybe play four originals at most,” Oropeza-Pineda said. “Being able to display your original music at this age and this period of time, it’s just super impressive, and I’m proud of him.”

The forthcoming 11-track album will be written, produced and performed entirely by Goldman. He’s enlisted his bandmates for help with a couple of guitar and bass sections, but Skusic remains an ambitious solo project.

“It doesn’t have to be hard, but I’m making it hard on myself because I want everything to be so perfect,” Goldman said. “It’s a lot of stuff, and I got to make sure everything sounds exactly how I want it.”

Goldman’s ambitions for Skusic won’t stop once the album comes out.

“I want to get the music out to as many people as possible,” Goldman said. “I want to be playing to as many people as possible. The dream would be playing stadiums — that would be awesome.”