I don't think the garage party is a great idea. But damn people you guys are job shaming pretty hard. Some people can make a living in music just like some do in art, it's a hard road I believe till you get established though. I know a couple that actually do art for a living have their own studio and everything took them a long time to get established though.
TLDR warning...
The funny thing is, if you actually do make a living at a very odd creative job people generally don't believe you or ask what job you actually do for money. (not true here in LA where it's normal, but it was true even when I lived in Chicago)
When I was an art and design student people would ask me what I planned to do for money. If I tell people I design toys now I'll often get the, "what's your day job" question.
A huge part of being an artist who actually gets to spend your life being creative is figuring out how to get paid. I'm creative director of a toy company. I don't just sit around and make whatever I think is cool at my house and try to sell it, I had to work for other people to make it work for me. My best friend who also went to ISU but was a business major lives here in LA near me and he's a music producer for tv scores, actually did some Fox Sports music they've played during ISU games we've watched together. He didn't get there by just making exactly whatever music he wanted to make (would have been hip hop/R&B). Neither of us would have made it if we hadn't moved from our home town Sioux City, I love Sioux City but an artist who wants to make money and not have another job has to be willing to risk living somewhere more expensive.
If he was just playing whatever music he wanted and I was just drawing stuff I thought was cool we'd be working other jobs because those are million to one long shots even for very talented people.
