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Acclaimed Kiwi pop misfits the Mint Chicks are inviting fans to become their next opening act through a new online competition launched this week.

The high-energy Auckland trio want fans to "go nuts" and submit a cover or remix of their hit song Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! before February 17, with fans voting online for three finalists.

The band-selected winner will then get the chance to open for the band or play an after-party DJ set on their upcoming New Zealand tour, while future competitions will allow fans to design a new Mint Chicks t-shirt or create a music video for their single Bad Buzz.

The competitions seem an unlikely move for the band, whose hands-on approach has so far seen them handle almost every aspect of the creative process themselves, from designing their own cover art to self-producing their own records, including the New Zealand Music Award-winning album Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!

But guitarist Ruban Nielson said the band were always open to collaborating, and were flattered when fans sent them remixes.

"You're just doing it for your own satisfaction, and then you realise that there are people who care about it, and that's really cool," he said.

The competition was a way to reach out to fans and give a kick-start to young musicians who would eventually "overshadow us".

"They're going to become successful, creative people, and we'll be humbled by them."

Nielson admits the competition is gimmicky, but makes no apologies.

"I like gimmicks. Pop music is just saturated and completely tied in with marketing and gimmicks, and I think that's the way it should be," he said.

"This demonisation of the idea of the idea of gimmicks bores the hell out of me. It's like people who think that performing on stage is somehow antithetical to making art. People want to take the fun out of everything. What we're trying to do is try to make people's lives a lot more fun."

The band has put the tabs and lyrics for Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! on musichype.com, and even went to the extra effort of re-recording all the parts to make it easier for fans to remix.

"We don't want that filter of people that are able to do it, we want as many people as possible," Nielson said.

"I want to hear people going nuts with it."

The band would not be concerned if the competition winner turned out to be a shambles on stage, he said.

"The things most people think are quite amateurish are really exciting and interesting to me," he said.

Competition entrants will have to pay a $5 fee, which Nielson said would help to recoup costs.

"Everyone's trying to invent a way to actually make money doing something that matters, something that's creative that they enjoy," he said.

"For that money, you get the opportunity to remix the song and suddenly have a built-in audience. But if people don't want to spend money on it, then they won't do it, and that's cool."

- NZPA