During 1964, he joined forces with Gary Muir & The Reflections, a local group comprising Muir (vocals), Ed Roth (organ), Bill Ross (guitar), Brian Hughes (bass) and Bob Ablack (drums). Neilson's arrival prompted the group to part from Muir and the band briefly changed their name to The Ookpiks (after a native-designed stuffed toy owl that was being promoted by the Canadian government). As it turned out that another group was already using that name, they briefly switched to The Sikusis (after a different stuffed toy). After the Canadian government demanded payment for their name, they settled on The Just Us in early 1965.