Basic install instructions, use sudo if necessary for the below (depends on your setup/security).
# [optional as you may have these installed]
sudo apt-get install libpcre3-dev zlib1g-dev
mkdir -p ~/temp/nginx-install
cd ~/temp/nginx-install
# download/curl/wget nginx
wget http://nginx.org/download/nginx-1.7.9.tar.gz
tar -xvf nginx-1.7.9.tar.gz
cd nginx-1.7.9/
./configure
make
sudo make install
#copy/download/curl/wget the init script
sudo wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JasonGiedymin/nginx-init-ubuntu/master/nginx -O /etc/init.d/nginx
sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/nginx
service nginx status # to poll for current status
service nginx stop # to stop any servers if any
service nginx start # to start the server
#[optional]
sudo update-rc.d -f nginx defaults
#[optional remove the upstart script]
sudo update-rc.d -f nginx remove