LIKE most leading figures in clubland Danny Savage was once a proud bedroom DJ who spent his teenage years saving up milk round money to but his first set of decks.

But, unlike most leading figures in clubland, his first foray into music came much earlier, in fact he was barely seven or eight when he was given an introduction by a certain Annie Devereux.

"My mum used to do it all the time, smuggle me into concerts when I was just a boy," recalls Savage, now 28. "So there I was, this kid going to see David Bowie and Gary Numan with the grown ups, it was amazing.

"She was mad about music and that's where I get my passion from - and obviously from a very early age. As a result I've also got incredibly broad tastes in music - this year I've been loving everything from the Fine Young Cannibals to Enya."

Fortunately, the loyal band who follow his club night Filth know not to expect either the Fine Young Cannibals or Enya at any of their nights. Instead its a meaty mix of everything from fidgit house to techno and electro.

And it was the arrival of electro a few years ago which reignited his passion for dance music, a passion that lapsed when, in his mind, the scene became saturated with funky house and trance.

So at the start of 2007 he debuted Filth at the most unlikely of places (a wine bar in Otley) followed by trial runs in Barnsley and Wakefield.

But last autumn Savage found a permanent monthly home at Leeds club Mint where, after a lengthy summer in Ibiza, he's just relaunched Filth for the autumn/winter season.

It's been just 12 months since he first debuted his baby at the Harrison Street venue and since day one he's been packing the place out virtually every Saturday he's taken over the decks.

"It's not like a conventional club night," said Savage. "It's more like a big get together with friends and because Mint is such a relatively small club it has a real intimate feel to it.

"But even though it only has a capacity of 550, with people coming and going and different times, we probably have about 1,000 passing through the doors throughout the night.

"I've been asked to take Filth to plenty of other venues in Leeds but I love Mint so much I'm staying put - it's just the best place for it and I'm so glad I brought Filth to leeds full stop - I think this city's clubbers are the best on the planet."

Coincidentally Mint has just relaunched after a £500,000 summer refurbishment, adding to the sense that savage is onto a real winner. So how did he build up such a following in the space of a year?

"Because people know me and I know a lot of people," he said. "I've really used the internet with sites like MySpace and Facebook and as a result I've built up the night's profile and my own profile.

"I think that's really important because in Leeds people like it when you associate a person with a night - just look at Dave Beer with Back2Basics.

"It makes it much more personal, Filth is about having a laugh and inviting people to your party rather than just slapping a load of posters and flyers around bars and shops all over the city advertising a massive faceless club night."

It's fair to say that when it comes to partying Danny always leads the way. In encouraging the crowd to dress up and let their hair down he isn't afraid to raid the props box when he hits the decks.

But though he enjoys a laugh, he's seriously ambitious.There's plans to launch a tour of Australia in the New Year and before then he's about to take the night back to a Ibiza for the winter.

Over on the White Isle Filth has gone down a storm. Danny's currently in the process of organising a Space residency with none other than Carl Cox after impressing the main man so much when Mr Savage recently took to the decks there alongside the likes of Fatboy Slim.

Plus he's just spearheaded the recent I Love Leeds festival showcasing Leeds club nights in Ibiza, landed residencies at Area 51 in Manchester and is about to do the same with Pacha in London.

Meanwhile back here he's recently scooped the award for best new club night as voted for by listeners of dance station Galaxy FM and on top of nurturing new, cutting edge talent like Dale Castell, Eddi Zanetti and Gav Bailey, Filth boasts a long list of former guest DJs.

But even with all that in mind other big venues and nights, who enjoy a similarly high profile, are still struggling to get punters through the doors - so what's his secret?

Savage said: "I think there's been a backlash against some of the more commercial clubs out there. People want something that's a bit more underground with some edginess to it.

"We've got a face and some personality to us and because of where we are it's just so much more fun and intimate. I think that's what we've tapped into with Filth and we want to do so much more with it." He jokes: "To be honest we won't be happy with anything short of complete world domination now."