Originally Posted by Guybrush

As someone who performs and records, I have a mixer and a small PA for gigs and I also have mic preamps (which you don't need) and an audio interface for recording.

If you want to perform, the mixer is great. If you're going to record, the audio interface is great.

I'd say if you're only buying one thing, maybe it can be a mixer, but make sure it's something you can hook up to PC with USB or similar that will send multiple channels to a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). What you don't want is sending stereo out from your mixer to your PC for recording. That means you'd mix on the mixer and send your mix to your PC, but getting all channels in and doing the mixing in a DAW on a computer has tremendous advantages when recording, so that should be your goal.

In a pinch, an audio interface like a Roland Studio Capture can also be used to perform, but since the mixer is typically software, you may have to bring a laptop on stage, at least during sound testing to set the levels. Adjustment during performance or feedback may be harder to deal with quickly if you can't get to a physical knob or slider quickly.