Harrogate's secret music guru is housing association officer by day

By day he works as a housing officer for Harrogate Housing Association but, by night, Richard Jones is the secret music guru behind some of the biggest names in urban music.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Jul 2017, 10:35 BST
Updated 18th Jul 2017, 08:34 BST
Record producer (and a lot more!) Richard Jones of Harrogate. Location kindly provided by Homefire Studios of Harrogate. (1707102AM2)Record producer (and a lot more!) Richard Jones of Harrogate. Location kindly provided by Homefire Studios of Harrogate. (1707102AM2)
Record producer (and a lot more!) Richard Jones of Harrogate. Location kindly provided by Homefire Studios of Harrogate. (1707102AM2)

Former St John Fisher's student Richard Jones' latest behind the scenes success is with former X Factor star Honey G who was famously ditched by Simon Cowell earlier in the year.Honey and Richard have certainly had the last laugh. The video he directed of her new single Hit you with the Honey G has been a huge hit on H2 the O Music, wracking up nearly five million views in under a fortnight.Featuring an Audi R8 a white horse and a helicopter, the video has been the subject of much tabloid chatter in the national press including the likes of The Sun but was shot by Richard largely in Harrogate and North Yorkshire.It's the latest success for an unusual and unusually talented man who has worked for Housing Associations in Yorkshire for 17 years, the last five in Harrogate, and who regards his outside work musical activities as a hobby.But such is his passion for music, his experience and expertise have grown in his spare time over nearly 20 years to make him the ultimate back room star.Richard, 38, now has the kind of trusted contacts within the industry which money simply can't buy.He said: "I like being a housing assocation officer. I don't want to give up the day job."I'm doing everything that I love to do. I don't even know how this success has happened."I've always supported talented people when they've started out and a lot of them are now big."It's not the first brush with massive success for this highly positive individual who was born in Muswell Hill in North London but went to school in Harrogate, university in Sheffield, then lived in Leeds for a while, before moving back to Harrogate.Last year he was surprised to get a phone call telling him that Drake had sampled a remix of a record released originally on a label he'd created in 2006 for his friend Errol Reid, the UK House and Garage DJ.The end result, Drake's One Dance, hit the number one slot in the singles chart and stayed there for 16 weeks, becoming the most streamed song in the world in 2016.One bit at a time, studio owner and producer Richard has become a jack of all trades, handling everything from PR to artist development to search engine optimisation.Until now he's ploughed back all his money into the acts he supports and a studio in London where the likes of Wiley and Stormzy record.Partly for that reason, and his busy lifestyle, he's happy for the moment to be single and rent a single room in a shared house in Harrogate.Richard said: "By rights, I should have a tattoo, a mouthful of gold teeth and be wearing a vest but I'm not really into the parties and the glamour."People try to give me money all the time but I don't take it. Having a lot of money just attracts people who are jealous. But they can't be jealous if you've got no money."But things may be about to change. Richard is slowly emerging from the underground a little into the limelight.He was recently asked to appear in the role of a bouncer in Ackley Bridge, the new Channel 4 drama series set in a school and got two lines to say.And Richard has also set up an online busines helping up and coming artists achieve their ambitions and remain independent.More famous with famous people than with fans, Richard Jones may about to become a super consultant.Who know, he might even take a fee?

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