The Ready Set will open Friday’s Art Attack show, headlined by MGMT. SEE Concerts Director Kiera Zitelman said The Ready Set was chosen thanks to a high score on SEE’s student survey. SEE also wanted to showcase a performer in the rock genre, and The Ready Set fits into that category, she added.

For 23-year-old Jordan Mark Witzigreuter — better known by his synth-pop moniker, The Ready Set — playing in front of college students is a surreal experience. Everyone in the audience could have been his peer, had his music career not taken off at such a torrid pace.

The discrepancies between the life he was supposed to have and the life he has now takes shape under these circumstances.

“For a while, when you finish high school, you either do something or you go to college,” said Witzigreuter, who hails from Fort Wayne, Ind. “It’s interesting to see the difference between their lives compared to mine.”

The Ready Set will open for MGMT at Art Attack XXX on Friday night.

Witzigreuter signed to Decaydance Records — a label owned by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz — in 2009 and subsequently released his studio debut I’m Alive, I’m Dreaming next year.

His sound cleaves toward bubblegum pop, full of big, lovelorn choruses and sparse electro percussion. A Ready Set live show, though, is far more organic — Witzigreuter plays with a full band, lending a much more rock ‘n’ roll feel. This is the direction he’d like to take The Ready Set in the near future.

His new, currently untitled album, which he’s set to finish in June, isn’t a massive departure from I’m Alive, I’m Dreaming, he said, but he’s begun to move away from synthetic pop music toward more straightforward rock.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be a lot less pop-y, but it’s definitely not going to be as polished,” he said. “It will probably be more raw.”

This burgeoning rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic also aligns with Student Entertainment Events’ effort to reverse the trend of the last two hip-hop Art Attacks, featuring Nelly in 2011 and B.o.B in 2012.This year was all about bringing back the rock, said Kiera Zitelman, SEE concerts director. And The Ready Set falls under that subhead while also contrasting with MGMT.

“I think they complement MGMT well without being repetitive,” Zitelman said. “The Ready Set is much more pop than MGMT, but I think it’s something that people will enjoy.”

Zitelman also said The Ready Set scored high on student surveys distributed by SEE, which contributed to the decision to bring Witzigreuter and his band to Art Attack.

For Witzigreuter, playing at a college may present a vision of what his life could have been like without the musical success. But it’s also about spreading art to unlikely places.

“Not everyone always knows about my band,” he said. “The thing about college shows is you never really know what you’re getting into with them. But it’s usually pretty positive.”