I appreciate the write up! So I actually have a little bit of experience with garage band, having had a Mac a few years back (and the phone app is surprisingly robust). That being said I originally used Logic Pro X since i was on Mac OS and the learning curve wasn't too bad (I also had friends that were using it and could guide me). That Mac has since gone to shit, but I did replace it with a 2017 MacBook Pro. Unfortunately that Mac hums so loudly when it's running anything remotely memory-heavy, so I chose not to dish out $200 to have Logic and use that computer as my recording machine. Now I have a pretty capable Windows laptop that can handle memory-intensive programs much better, so I'm moving forward with Windows OS for now. So I'm still trying to land on a Windows OS DAW. I downloaded Reaper and it's easy enough at first glace, but I haven't yet recorded a full song, so jury is still out.
I was also using a Focusrite Scarlett as my audio interface when I started, which I lost in college but have since replaced. So I have an interface at least.
Unfortunately I don't have any monitors. Waiting to move until I get some, but since I already have an interface and all of my guitar/pedals/amps I might splurge on some nice Yamahas. Will definitely circle back before I purchase anything.
So really I just need to decide on a DAW, and I might stick with Reaper (it's free too). Would LOVE to have a Mac desktop to run Logic or GarageBand through, but they're SO expensive.