Creature has made a new friend…. Siobhan Leddy is Editor of new arts, music and culture publication Flamingo Magazine.  She kindly took the time to answer our questions. Cover above illustrated by Emily Sams and designed by Isabel Wharton.

Who’s behind Flamingo?
I’m Siobhan, and I’m the editor and founder of Flamingo. Working alongside me are the talented Izzy and Grashina, who do art direction and features editing respectively and Flamingo is very much a collective effort. As well as the three of us, we have a great group of writers, illustrators and photographers who contribute regularly.

Image above: Siobhan Leddy by Laura Callaghan

When did you start the mag?
It started last year, around April, in a completely different incarnation. Originally we had some half-baked cabinet of curiosities idea, which is why we have the seemingly random name. The idea was to have pages of strange Victorian ephemera, with the monocled flamingo looking over it all. That isn’t even close to Flamingo now, and he’s much less snooty. Although he does still wear a top hat.

Either way, Flamingos are quite good regardless of context. I have a plastic one blue-tacked to my wall.

What’s it about and what’s the ethos behind it?
The phrase is a bit overused, but I’ve always been interested in the idea of doing-it-yourself. I mean, not in the home improvement sense, obviously, but in the sense of not needing buckets of cash and connections to start a creative project that people like. Because of this, Flamingo has evolved into a creative guide as much as a magazine, and we interview people from the creative industries to find out how they’ve set up their record label or drawn their latest illustration.

Illustration is a massive part of Flamingo too. We regularly interview some amazing illustrators about their doodling process, as well as provide a platform for them to showcase their work. The thing I love about illustration is that there’s no pretense to it – it can be silly or serious, or both.

Who is it for?
Flamingo is for anyone who wants to create something from nothing.

You are releasing your first printed edition soon, please tell us more.
Yeah, it’s all pretty exciting. Issue 1 is available from the start of March from www.flamingomagazine.com. I’ve always imagined Flamingo as a print magazine, and it’s finally hitting newsagents and art bookshops in March. It’s looking amazing as well, so I can’t wait to see it on the shelves. The launch party should be pretty good too – any excuse for a piss-up.

How did you get on in the interview with Yeasayer?
People are pretty nice. If you start talking to them, they’ll generally talk back. Although saying that, my chat with Yeasayer was over the phone, which makes everything infinitely more stressful. My phone has a habit of cutting out, so I should’ve just popped over to New York really.

Where do you want to take Flamingo?
I’ve got loads of plans, including an illustration exhibition and a pipe-dream plan to open a bar – although the dream is to make it a part of a nice collective thing, where everyone’s doing something different. How awesome would it be to just hang out with your friends all day making stuff?

Thanks Siobhan for these insights into setting up and running a new creative magazine. If you would like your work published in Flamingo then check out www.flamingomagazine.com and get in touch with them.

Buy Flamingo Magazine

You can buy issue one from the start of March for £4.95 from www.flamingomagazine.com. Other stockists that are yet to be confirmed. You can follow Flamingo Magazine on twitter: @flamingomag