Stein’s been talking to me for a while and has shown no hint of wanting to be elsewhere. He appears to think I’m worth his time and as a rookie journo I’m humbled by this. But he seems to be the sort who would have time for anyone. Major label head honchos have traditionally gotten a pretty bad wrap for being ruthless and doing everything in self-interest but I see none of this in Stein. He tells me that while he has no favourites amongst his artists, he does have a career highlight which came in the 80s.

“Some records were put out that weren’t even huge successes that I’m very proud of,” he says.

He signed a band called Juluka, who were a controversial mixed race band from South Africa. Apartheid was in full swing and they were singing songs about Zulu tribes defeating the British colonial army. Naturally they were banned from South African radio, but they were a huge underground hit. So Stein being Stein, he signed them. They had a catchy song called Scatterlings of Africa. Stein spread it throughout Europe, took it to number one in France and charted it in other parts of Western Europe.

“Putting that record out made me feel like I was, in my own way trying to do something.” he says.

He continues to travel the world in search of bands like this from oppressed nations and has lately been showing particular interest in China and India. He says if the music industry is to grow the world has to embrace the two countries.

“India and China have grown from being third world countries to being the most important countries in the world. They are primed to be part of the music business. Why deny it?” he says.

He demands we look outside the boundaries of the English language.

“The English language is not the official language of the music business, there is no official language. 150 years ago, people down here and in America and in England, their sense of music was going to the opera and listening to Verdi or Puccini in Italian, or Bizet in French or Wagner in German, there’s a whole big wonderful world of music.”

Throughout the interview I notice Stein often gets caught up in listing artist and industry names like this. Names from all over the timeline of popular music history, most of whom I haven’t heard of, but I never doubt for a second he knows them inside out. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of music that no doubt drives his intention of mining every facet of the world to find his next signing. His open-mindedness is incredible for someone who grew up in a middle class family in Brooklyn in the 40s and 50s, in a country where the people are often labelled ignorant and world history isn’t taught in schools.

“I travel the world now and I have for the past 30, almost 40 years, I want to experience everything, certainly in music, most of all, because music is my life.” Stein says.

Stein’s parents were born in America but his grandparents came from Eastern Europe. He says he grew up in the days just before rock’n’roll and his early influences were pop singers. His older sister loved music and would always have the radio on in the house when he was a kid. He liked 50s artists like Guy Mitchell, Kay Starr, Frank Sinatra and Nat Cole. But when he found the black r&b stations for the first time, this was a life-changing experience for him.

“When I heard Fats Domino for the first time- that was a life changing thing. When I saw Frankie Lymon, someone the same age as me, singing Why do Fools Fall in Love for the first time- that was another life-changing experience. Chuck Berry doing the duck walk, hearing doo wop like The Moonglows, or The Five Satins doing In The Still of the Night- fuckin’ incredible. I love it all.”

Stein has been watching the industry intently since he was 13, when he started volunteering at Billboard.

“When I was 13 I knew I wanted to be in the record business, I didn’t know what the fuck being in the record business was, but I went up to Billboard and Tom Noonan, the chart editor, let me in.”

He got an official job at Billboard when he was 14 and by the time he started Sire he already had nine years experience.

“I had that under my belt and that was very helpful, I think the younger you start the better.”

Of the current music business he says he’s seen better times. Like most label heads he is resentful of the effect the internet has had in bringing the recorded music industry to its knees. He has an interesting perspective on this matter and says the industry lost control long before the internet became a way of life. He says it started in the 50s when artists began to make albums instead of singles.

“When you look back way before my time, the big record companies all started as manufacturers of phonographs (gramophones).”

“EMI was called The Gramophone Company, RCA was called The Victor Talking Machine Company, Columbia was the Columbia Phonograph Company- they made records to sell their phonographs.”

Stein goes on to say that when albums became popular in the 50s, it was more profitable for the companies to solely make records.

“People said – œwhat do we need to make these fuckin’ phonographs for? We’re not in the furniture business, we’ll just let somebody else make it’. And that’s where we lost control of the hardware. I think if that hadn’t happened we wouldn’t have these troubles with downloads.”

“I think by descent we would have been the people in charge not Apple or Nokia… we lost the plot. I think the main thing is not to dwell on the predicament we’re in but just to work our way out of it and get people buying music again.”

He loves new technology like iPhones, but stipulates there is no place for it to take away the respect people should have for music as an art. He likens a song to a painting and says you wouldn’t just go take a painting off a guy so why would you take a song? He remains positive though and has great faith in music.

“Music is the soundtrack to people’s lives, it’s not going away. It’s the support system around music, the infrastructure is reinventing itself and I think when it comes out the other end it’ll be a bigger, better and stronger business. I hope I’m around to see it because it’s going to take some time.

Stein is proud of where Sire is at the moment and thinks acts like The Veronicas, HIM, Against Me, Jack’s Mannequin, Tegan and Sara and Meghan Smith have put the company in the right direction.

He remains absolutely grateful for what music and his artists have brought him and fully aware of how fortunate he is.

“I’ve just had the most amazing life and thank God it’s not over. I hope to squeeze out a few more (artists) before I go.” he says.

“This business has been very good to me, I think I have not betrayed this business, I’ve been good to it too and certainly I got the most out of it. It’s a wonderful life and I’ve just about loved every minute of it. There’s some frustrating times but you know we’ll get through it.”

I shake his hand, he tells me he’s gotta go watch some bands and he leaves as gradually as he came in. I see him watching Kate Miller Heidke from a chair in the cocktail lounge at the One Movement Festival the next night. He looks like he’s been settled there all day and when someone appears to tell him it’s time to go, he looks as disappointed as a kid who just found out Santa isn’t real.